The Big Bang Theory: The Geology Elevation (10x09)

This was a dud...

Cons:

The main plot involves Bert winning a McArthur Grant, and Sheldon spending the episode feeling jealous. He injures himself by throwing a rock and attempting to punch a water fountain, and then Stephen Hawking shows up over the phone and tells Sheldon that he's too brilliant to be jealous.

How many times can I complain about this show wasting its opportunities? Sheldon is jealous of somebody else's professional success. This could be an opportunity to delve in to the fact that Sheldon has been struggling with his career recently. We could bring up the navigation system, how Sheldon was stalled on a major problem. But no. We don't bring any of that up. Instead, Sheldon injures himself in slap-stick-y ways, all of which happen off-screen so we don't even get to appreciate them. Then, in the end, Sheldon gets praised by Stephen Hawking and instantly all of his turmoil is gone. He and Bert go to sit in the studio audience on Ellen. Okay... nothing got done, here. The Ellen bit was really shoe-horned in, too.

Grey's Anatomy: You Haven't Done Nothin' (13x09)

Is it winter finale time already? I feel like all of these shows just came back on the air! This was a great episode of Grey's Anatomy, escalating various plot threads, resolving some dangling ones, leaving some cliffhangers, setting up some new ideas. All of this is centered around a very cheesy and appropriate metaphor in the shape of a big disaster that has our doctors scrambling.

Cons:

There were a lot of elements to this episode, a lot of different stories to tell. There was bound to be one that slipped through the cracks, and unfortunately this week that was Owen and Amelia. Owen and Riggs talk about their pasts, which I liked, but then we get a moment at the very end of the episode where Owen comes home and finds that Amelia has left him. She just... leaves a note and runs off. I'm very frustrated about this. It seems like there must be something better to do with Amelia at this point than just have her screw up her life again. I get it. She's unstable and unhappy. But at some point doesn't that get old? Owen is a sad martyr and Amelia is a pathetic train wreck. So what else is new?

This episode also had a couple of logistical problems, which are so not a big deal, but they still bother me. First of all, I live in Seattle. When did this earthquake supposedly happen? There hasn't been an earthquake bad enough to crack building foundations in the area since like 2001. The other thing is about Alex's trial. They were all acting like the trial was going to take one day. For a case like this, you're looking at probably two weeks. And Jo gets called to the stand last minute? Nope. Nobody does that. She would have been deposed and questioned long ago if either side planned to put her on the stand. It's unrealistic.

Supernatural: Celebrating the Life of Asa Fox (12x06)

Oh my God, what?! That episode was absolutely amazing! Jody Mills! A group of hunters! Mary Winchester! Even Billie made an appearance!

Cons:

Uh... okay. I will admit that this episode required some suspension of disbelief. And I don't mean the standard "there are demons" suspension of disbelief, or even the "how many times can these two guys be in perilous situations and still make it out alive" suspension of disbelief. I'm talking about the fact that this episode featured a whole group of hunters trapped in a house together, and they were soooo ill prepared. They didn't have holy water, or weapons other than a few knives. I would think that hunters would all be over-prepared for a situation like this. Also, hasn't this show established that you can just say "Christo" to reveal demons? Oh, and why do they all not have anti-possession tattoos? Doesn't Dean still have his, anyway? Shouldn't that mean that he couldn't have been a suspect, even at the beginning? I'm willing to put up with a little convenient incompetency for the sake of the plot, but this did stretch my belief just a tad.

Modern Family: Thanksgiving Jamboree (8x07)

This episode didn't really do a lot for me. Often times Modern Family can really pull out big wins for holiday themed episodes. But much like this year's Halloween episode, I felt that this Thanksgiving story was lacking any real punch. That's not to say that it sucked, but it didn't wow me either.

Cons:

The whole family gets together for a "Thanksgiving Jamboree," which is a big Southern to-do that normally Mitchell would hate, but Cam is really excited about it. Claire thinks that Mitchell is only going along with it because he did something wrong, and it turns out that she's right: Mitchell accidentally got rid of Cam's Fizbo costume. When Mitchell finally tells Cam this, he reacts calmly, which makes Claire and Mitchell suspect that maybe he's the one hiding stuff. Indeed, he is. Cam spent all the money set aside for an upcoming romantic getaway in order to make the Thanksgiving Jamboree.

I'm sick of plot threads like this, that are built on the comedy of spouses lying to one another. For Cam to spend a big chunk of money like that without talking to Mitchell is actually pretty serious, and if this weren't a sitcom it would be a sign of a deep fundamental problem in their relationship. As it is, we're meant to laugh at it.

The Walking Dead: Service (7x04)

I wish I could be more effusive with my praise of this episode... there were a lot of individual elements that were just fine, and totally built the tension. And yet... I don't know if I'm fully on board.

Cons:

So, Jeffrey Dean Morgan is doing an excellent job as Negan, and from an acting standpoint I totally get that he's super scary, and I also totally get that Rick is broken, and he's decided to do whatever Negan wants, in order to protect his people. But my logic keeps kicking in and disrupting my ability to buy into this stuff. They have SO MANY GUNS, okay? I just keep thinking that Negan is the only thing holding this operation together. Couldn't they have had people posted on the wall with guns, and then just take him out the second he appears? I feel like a lot of the Saviors are loyal to Negan because they're broken, or because Negan's got the best stuff and the most men. But Rick had all the guns! That's a very real advantage, and I don't fully believe that Rick is so defeated that he wouldn't even contemplate retaliation.

This all comes to a head when Rick makes Michonne give up her rifle, which Negan had no reason to believe she had. I get that he's worried one of Negan's people would see her with it and somebody would die. But... just... bury it. Or save it for when you have a plan. What is with the utter defeat?

Elementary: Ill Tidings (5x06)

The character work in this episode was exquisite, as is often the case with this show. The actual plot was adequate, but nothing special. That also tends to be the situation with Elementary. I hope this show survives beyond this year. There are so many other things on TV right now that I would prefer to see cancelled. We'll have to hold out hope for higher ratings going forward.

Cons:

The main case was one of those where the twist comes so far out of left field that instead of feeling shocking, it just feels ridiculous. Somebody is murdering people using snake venom, and at first you think it's got something to do with cyber security. Then, it turns out to be an art heist of the New York Stock Exchange. This feels more like a setup for Leverage than for Elementary, and I've got to say, it doesn't work to the show's favor.

There was one moment that could have been really intense, but instead it went nowhere. The team has been hunting down this venomous snake, and they find it - in the apartment of one of the bad guys. It's free from its cage, and it's right behind Joan's foot. We cut to commercial, and when we come back, Joan and Sherlock are back at the Brownstone, and the snake is safely contained. Is it too much to ask for just a little drama? Was Sherlock scared for Joan's safety? How did they get everybody out of that situation safely? That's the kind of thing I'd like to see play out on screen.

Once Upon a Time: I'll Be Your Mirror (6x08)

Regina and Emma are an awesome team, okay? I may not ship them romantically, but I totally get where all the Swan Queen people are coming from, and episodes like this are a big reason why.

Cons:

There was a subplot in this episode about Belle, Zelena, Rumple, Jasmine, and Aladdin, and it got just a little bit muddled. Basically, Belle asks for Zelena's help in getting out of Storybrooke, because she's afraid that Rumple will use the Shears of Destiny on her child. Zelena says she needs the magic wand that Rumple has in his possession, so Belle enlists Aladdin to help steal it. Aladdin sneaks in, steals the wand, and delivers it to Belle and Zelena, earning praise from Jasmine for heroically breaking and entering. Just as Zelena is about to open a portal that will get Belle to safety, Rumple shows up and takes the wand back, putting a bracelet on Belle's arm that traps her, preventing her from fleeing Storybrooke. When Rumple tries to hurt Zelena, he ends up hurting himself. The two are linked from when Zelena saved Rumple's life in New York. (yeah, I hardly remember that, either). Rumple and the Evil Queen have another stomach-curling make-out session in Gold's shop, and Rumple says that he wants the Evil Queen to kill Zelena and get her out of the way once and for all.

Okay, where to start? If Belle was going to enlist Aladdin's help in breaking in to the shop, why wouldn't she ask him to find the Shears of Destiny, instead of the wand? Why even bother to include Aladdin and Jasmine in this episode to begin with, honestly, when they're given negligible screen-time and their story is not advanced at all? Why does Rumple want to kill Zelena so badly? Because Zelena was trying to help Belle escape? Oh, and even better question: why was Zelena willing to help Belle? Because she's mad at her sister for making out with Rumple? In what universe does any of this add up?

The Vampire Diaries: An Eternity of Misery (8x04)

So... we've gotten the Siren backstory. I'm liking it okay, but all in all this episode felt a bit filler-ish, and it made a few decidedly unbalanced decisions.

Cons:

This show used to be really good at surprises and fake-outs. Remember when Katherine first showed up, and kissed Damon, and there was the reveal that it wasn't Elena? Aw man. Good stuff. This week, we learn that Sybil the Siren has a sister. And then we learn that it's Seline, Alaric and Caroline's nanny. This comes completely out of left field, because we hadn't been told that there might be a secret coming up. The fact that Sybil has a sister wasn't built up in any way until this episode. And then they did this charmingly ineffective fake-out, where we think that Georgie is the second siren, but it turns out that Seline is controlling her. I'm totally cool with the hot nanny being a secret baddie, and I'm totally cool with the concept of a second Siren... but I'm not totally cool with their execution of said "twist."

To add insult to injury, Seline finishes off her great big reveal as a villain by killing Georgie, who is then dragged to Hell. Or something. Georgie wasn't this show's most interesting or innovative character or anything, but why spend time building her up for half a second, only to kill her off? What is it with this season and its inability to effectively use character deaths? What a waste of a potentially interesting character.

The Big Bang Theory: The Brain Bowl Incubation (10x08)

Surprisingly, this episode was good. It could so easily have been very bad, but it was not!

Cons:

I thought Sheldon and Amy's plot thread could have been treated with a bit more gravitas, given how serious the situation is. Essentially, Sheldon is inspired by the miracle of science to create a baby with Amy. Amy is not ready for kids, and continually evades his seductive advances. The idea of Sheldon wanting a kid is an interesting one, and of course it would be the pursuit of science that got him there. But I do wish we could have had a scene where maybe Sheldon contemplated what it would really mean to him to be a father. Maybe we'll get that in the coming weeks? I don't know. As it stood by itself, this plot thread was all comedy without any of the heart to ground it.

Supernatural: The One You've Been Waiting For (12x05)

This was the first clunker of the season. It wasn't irredeemably bad or anything, but it also didn't offer all that much in the way of creativity or innovation.

Cons:

To make a long story short, the evil necromancers called "Thule" try (and succeed) in resurrecting Hitler by using a young woman who happens to be Hitler's descendant. They need his blood to resurrect him. Sam and Dean find out about all of this, and Dean kills Hitler.

I think my big problem with this episode is that it felt like it was trying to set something up, but I don't think it was. Hitler's great-great-grandniece, Ellie, was a fun enough character, but it doesn't seem like they were setting her up for a return. And the main bad guy's son turns on his father and his father's men, which could have been interesting, but I don't think we're really setting him up for a return either.

Grey's Anatomy: The Room Where It Happens (13x08)

Huh... a bottle episode. A decently effective one, at that. Although I did think it got a bit silly in spots.

Cons:

The premise here is that Owen, Meredith, Stephanie, and Richard are all working on a patient who was in a car accident and whose liver is totally shredded. Everybody is exhausted except for Richard, who comes in the middle of everything and wants to play a game where they make up a backstory for the John Doe on the table. They end up creating a character, Gail, who plays violin, works two jobs, has three kids, etc. etc. Throughout, we also see the other characters have flashes to traumatic parts of their own lives as they work to empathize with the patient.

Lots of stuff was good about this. But Richard continually interjecting in the middle of medical discussions to ask about Gail was a little distracting. I get what they were going for, but it felt beyond irritating, like Richard was this doddering old fool who doesn't know when to shut up and let the more competent surgeons get back to work. There might have been a way to balance this out a little better, if I'm being totally honest.

Modern Family: Grab It (8x06)

Eh... well, I didn't hate that, but I also forgot virtually everything that happened the second it happened, so that doesn't bode well. It's also possible that I have other, much bigger, stuff on my mind and am too upset to look on the bright side. Whatever.

Cons:

So, Jay's plot involved Phil wanting to become a member of his club. Jay agrees to sponsor Phil, thinking that Phil will fall on his face and that the guys will never accept him. Instead, Phil is a total hit. In the end, Jay admits that the club is his one place to be alone and away from the pressures of the rest of his life, and he's jealous of Phil's ability to fit in anywhere. This plot thread annoyed me because it was about a straight rich white guy feeling like his space was being invaded. I mean come on. Pulease. Oh, and also, apparently Luke has a job at the club and he's doing really well, which just kind of confuses me. Are we supposed to think of him as competent now?

Gloria's plot thread was really forgettable. She planned on having a relaxing night to herself, since Manny was going to a party, and she planned on putting Joe to bed early. But the party ends up going poorly for Manny, and so he comes home early, and Joe drinks espresso and gets all wired, so Gloria's night is ruined. This plot thread wasn't bad or anything, it was just so bland that I hardly remembered it even as I was watching it.

Once Upon a Time: Heartless (6x07)

An episode focusing on Snow and David's love? Sign me up! This felt like the good ol' days, and it was nice and comforting.

Cons:

I seriously want to throw up when I see the Evil Queen and Rumple making out. It's terrible. But beyond the terribleness, I hate the fact that it was used as an excuse to put in more drama with the Evil Queen and Zelena. This whole plot thread is going nowhere and going there fast. Get a grip, Zelena. Seriously.

One of the critical moments of this episode happens in a flashback, as we see that Snow and Charming came very close to meeting once before they actually did meet, back when David was still living with his mother on the farm. There's this moment where Snow says that it's dangerous for him to see her, because she's made a lot of enemies, so they never actually see each other's faces. This is fine in theory, but I felt like Snow's reasoning was poorly explained. Why would seeing her face make things more dangerous for Charming? Was she worried that somebody was going to find out about this encounter, and then somehow identify Charming, and torture him because he saw her face? I guess I'm fuzzy on the logic here. Normally I wouldn't mention something so small, but it was sort of a big thing in the plot.

The Walking Dead: The Cell (7x03)

I'm going to sound like a broken record, here. Unfortunately, this episode took the problems I had with the first episode, and combined them with the problems I had with the second episode. That doesn't mean I hated it, though.

Cons:

As you'll remember if you read my previous reviews, my problem with the premiere was that it was just too much in its gruesomeness. The impact was dulled by all the disgusting imagery and brutal treatment of these characters. The second episode was a narrowly focused character episode, with Carol and Morgan meeting a bunch of new people, and no look at all at the rest of the ensemble. And then here we see what Negan and his people have been doing to Daryl, and we've got the brutal nature of episode one plus the ignoring of the ensemble and narrow character treatment of episode two.

I want to see Rick and the rest of the gang, dang it! I love Carol. I love Daryl. They're probably my favorite characters at the moment. But I don't want to keep things so isolated! And I don't much want to see Daryl getting tortured continuously. It's not fun, and it doesn't really add much to the story, either. I think they've done enough to convince us that Negan is bad news, haven't they? I mean, yeesh.

Elementary: To Catch a Predator Predator (5x05)

I actually wasn't as big a fan of this episode as I have been the last couple. It wasn't anything terrible, but it just sort of passed me by.

Cons:

The main case was about sexual predators and cat-fishing. The whole thing was just unpleasant. We've seen many stories where Sherlock feels morally superior to the people he's investigating, but often it's because the people are wealthy businessmen who don't care about the little man. There's some real honor in rejecting wealth. Being disgusted with perverts is not exactly a stretch, though. Of course they all hate men who prey on teenage girls. But what did we learn?

The end result of the case was that a victim of sexual assault was the murderer. As far as twists go, it was fairly well executed. I, like Sherlock, rather liked the girl who ended up guilty. But it felt like such a dissatisfying way to end things. I wanted to lock up some monsters, not a young woman who went through terrible trauma as a child. I get that we're not always going to get a happy ending wrapped up in a bow, but this conclusion left me with a sour taste in my mouth.

The Vampire Diaries: You Decided That I Was Worth Saving (8x03)

Okay, so... I really like this season, actually, but I cannot condone the utter stupidity of one big element in this episode.

Cons:

Tyler Lockwood came back for a very, very awkward final scene, and then Damon killed him. It was supposed to be the final act of depravity, the one thing that Damon could never come back from. It happens at the very end of the episode, proving that despite the gang's recent successes against Sybil the Siren, Damon is still fully under her control.

Okay... but nobody cares about Tyler. Nobody ever cared about Tyler, or at least I didn't. And we haven't seen him in such a long time that the impact from his death was pretty much nonexistent. It could have been more emotionally affecting if they had done the scene better, but it was way too... talk-y. Tyler tries to give Damon a pep talk, and encourages him to walk away and break free. He then tells Damon that if this is how he's meant to die, at least he hopes it will snap Damon out of his funk. Since when is Tyler a martyr? And isn't he a werewolf? I mean I know he can't transform whenever, but you would think he could have at least tried to bite Damon on the arm or something. I'm not sure how it all works, but he certainly didn't try very hard to get away. The whole thing was just strange, and did not have the impact it was meant to.

The Big Bang Theory: The Veracity Elasticity (10x07)

This episode had a lot of really funny one-liners. I did take mild exception to one of the plot threads, though.

Cons:

Basically, the plot is that everybody keeps secrets from each other. Penny's secret is that she's been moving Leonard's collectibles out of the house and into storage slowly over time. Leonard finds out and is angry at first, but then says that Penny should decorate their room however she wants, so that she feels at home. She proceeds to completely redo the room in pink with hearts and stuff, taking out all of Leonard's stuff. Leonard is then seen hiding Penny's stuff. I get that this was all supposed to be funny, but I was getting really angry on Leonard's behalf. It's one thing for Penny to want to change things so she feels more at home. I get that. It's another thing for her to just take her husband's belongings and hide them away. Like, what the hell, Penny? There was a brief mention of using Sheldon's now-empty room as a place for Leonard to put his stuff, but this idea got pushed aside. Hopefully Leonard finds a way to assert himself in this relationship too. I'm not cool with Penny having that much control.

Grey's Anatomy: Why Try To Change Me Now? (13x07)

I'm gonna be quick about this. I'm sooo busy.

Cons:

Leah Murphy's return has thus far been rather uninteresting. What's she doing here? I don't get it. I'm hopeful that it'll get better, but I just don't get it.

Oy vey. The continuing drama of Amelia and Owen. She spends the episode avoiding him and sleeping at the hospital. When he confronts her about it, she blurts out that she doesn't want kids, and ends up showing up at Meredith's place to spend the night. I'm heartsick for Owen, that he managed to be married to another woman who doesn't want children. And while I was all ready to support the hasty marriage thing, I'm now just super annoyed that they didn't talk about this before tying the knot. That's a pretty big conversation not to have. It makes them both look like idiots.

Supernatural: American Nightmare (12x04)

Wow. I'm impressed by how solid that episode was. We got mentions of both Cas and Mary, which I always appreciate.

Cons:

An ongoing complaint with this show is how incompetent Sam and Dean can be. I get that they're trying to raise the stakes by putting their lives in danger all the time, but come on. Sam gets kidnapped? Again? Yikes.

A bigger complaint is that Magda, a psychic, ends up getting killed by Mr. Ketch at the very end of the episode. The British MOL rear their ugly heads once again, and with mixed results. I want Mr. Ketch to be something more than just a ruthless assassin. I also basically want the MOL to stay out of this season, since they've proved such a disappointment thus far. Magda did deserve a second chance, and it felt like a cheap shot to kill her off just to escalate the threat of the MOL for Sam and Dean.

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: The Good Samaritan (4x06)

Uh oh. Not good.

Cons:

I don't mean that the episode is not good. The episode is just fine, actually. I do have one large-ish complaint, however.

Eli, Robbie and Gabe's uncle, is a villain. We see a lot of flashbacks in this episode as we learn what happened with the Darkhold and Momentum Energy Lab. Turns out, Joe and Lucy were getting a little power-hungry, and Eli was worried about them. But then it turns out that Eli actually just wanted to the power for himself. In the present day, he's thrilled that Lucy has led him straight to a place with enough energy to transform him, and as the episode ends he is so transformed. He now has the ability to create matter from nothing, effectively making himself a god.

The flashbacks showed Joe and Lucy as slowly corrupted scientists, and then flipped the script on us to show us that Eli was the bad guy all along. My problem here is that we don't have a big emotional investment in Eli as a character, so I didn't really care that he turned out to be a villain. Also, this episode had a big problem with spelling things out too easily. Multiple characters tell the audience what we're smart enough to already figure out. In a flashback, after Lucy sees that Eli has done away with her other colleagues, she says something like "you just wanted the power for yourself!" And in the present-day, as Eli locks himself in the chamber ready to make himself a god, Coulson says "It was you all along!" Like... yeah... we got it, thanks very much.